She was disturbed in her meditation by Cayrol's voice. He wished to take
an answer to the Prince. What must he say to him?

"You will let him know," said Madame Desvarennes, "that he must refrain
from seeking opportunities of meeting my daughter. If he be a gentleman,
he will understand that his presence, even in Paris, is disagreeable to
me. I ask him to go away for three weeks. After that time he may come
back, and I agree to give him an answer."

"You promise me that you will not be vexed with me for having undertaken
this errand?"

"I promise on one condition. It is, that not a word which has passed
here this morning shall be repeated to any one. Nobody must suspect the
proposal that you have just made to me."

Cayrol swore to hold his tongue, and he kept his word. Prince Panine
left that same night for England.

Madame Desvarennes was a woman of quick resolution. She took a sheet of
paper, a pen, and in her large handwriting wrote the following lines
addressed to Pierre:

"If you do not wish to find Micheline married on your return, come back
without a moment's delay."

She sent this ominous letter to the young man, who was then in Tripoli.
That done, she returned to her business as if nothing had happened. Her
placid face did not once betray the anguish of her heart during those